THINKER'S ALMANAC - May 2

What was the $2 bet that prompted director Errol Morris to commit his life to the pursuit of truth?

Subject: Epistemology - “There is Such a Thing as Truth”

Event:  Errol Morris published his This I Believe Essay, 2005

We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.  -Denis Diderot

Imagine a map of the West Coast.  Which city would you say is further west: Reno, Nevada or Los Angeles, California?

Writer and director Errol Morris remembers asking a boy in his neighborhood this question when he was 10 years old, betting the boy $2 that the correct answer was Reno.  Even after Morris showed the boy a map, confirming the correct answer, the boy refused to believe that the true answer was Reno.  This experience taught Morris a powerful lesson about truth and people’s relationship with it:

There is such a thing as truth, but we often have a vested interest in ignoring it or outright denying it. Also, it's not just thinking something that makes it true. Truth is not relative. It's not subjective. It may be elusive or hidden. People may wish to disregard it. But there is such a thing as truth and the pursuit of truth: trying to figure out what has really happened, trying to figure out how things really are. (1)

                                                                Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

Morris told this geography anecdote in an essay that he wrote and recorded for National Public Radio’s series called This I Believe. It was published on this day in 2005. The series began in 1951, hosted by legendary broadcaster Edward R. Murrow.  Since it began, hundreds of essays have been written and recorded, each based on the same simple prompt: “Write a few hundred words (350-500) expressing the core principles that guide your life -- your personal credo” (2).

Errol Morris’ credo is clearly established in his essay’s title:  “There is Such a Thing as Truth.”  In 1988, Morris made a movie that freed an innocent man who had been falsely convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in Texas. His movie The Thin Blue Line is a case study in Morris’ pathological obsession with finding the truth.  The film also illustrates a sad example of how others, like the neighbor boy from Morris’ youth, not only refuse to accept the truth but will manipulate it to suit their purposes.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason: What did Errol Morris’ childhood bet teach him about truth?  What is a credo?

Challenge - First Person Personal Philosophies:  Go to the This I Believe website, and read some sample essays that state the credos of well-known individuals as well as ordinary people.  Then, write your own This I Believe Essay stating and explaining your own credo.

ALSO ON THIS DAY:

-May 2, 1611:  Today is the anniversary of the publication of what is probably the most influential work in the history of the English language, the King James translation of the Old and New Testaments.  Of course, on might argue that it is not one work but 66 separate books (39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament); nevertheless, the reading and proclaiming o the words from the King James Bible have made a significant impact on the words we speak. 

Sources:

1-Morris, Errol.  “There is Such a Thing as Truth.” All Things Considered National Public Radio 2 May 2005.

2- Allison, Jay and Dan Gediman (Editors).  This I Believe:  The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women.  New York:  Henry Holt, 2006.